On Saturday I had the good fortune to attend TEDxSydney and what a total mind-blast it was! You don't know about TED ? go here for the lowdown.
Simply put, TED [non-profit] is an ideas-fest and it was created to bring together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who talk for around 15 minutes about what they are up to, what they believe in, what they just invented......
......and it's absolutely riveting - most of the talks are on-line at YouTube but be warned - many hours can go missing when you get sucked into the TED vortex.
TED stands for Technology Education Design and started as a conference back in '84, bringing together people from those 3 worlds - which, when you think about it, pretty much covers everything.......yep EVERYTHING.
On Saturday at Sydney's TEDx we heard about the universe and human DNA and everything in between. We listened to amazing music, watched moving films and shared ideas. We laughed, we cried.
The line-up of speakers for TEDxSydney was eclectic and surprising and interesting - nothing less than I would expect by the organising team which was lead by that well-of-ideas man REMO Guiffre..
Back in the day, we started our first business in the basement of REMO General Store, an institution on the corner of Oxford + Crown [when Darlinghurst was a wasteland - literally] The Remo General Store was an idea well ahead of it's time. Imagine a place that stocked the best of everything - pens from Mont Blanc, soap from Italy, knives from Switzerland, quotes from Einstein and the beloved 'stripey things'. Maybe that's not a big deal now but in the 80's it sure was! It was monumental but, like all good things, sadly came to an end. However the General Store does live on-line here and is well worth a visit.
On the day of TEDx Sydney, folk were invited to come along to Carriageworks, or to tune into Radio National or You Tube, or even to host their own mini-me TEDx events around the country. If all this managed to elude you, dont despair, I have it on good authority that all presentations will be uploaded in good time. So I suggest you head over to FB and "like" TEDxSydney to ensure timely updates .... and maybe be first in line for 2012.
oh and maybe, like my friend Aaron, who started the amazing SPARK* watch an inspirational TED video each morning - you just never know where it will lead....
